Giving Up

September 20,2024

I am not a particularly emotional person.  In fact, most of the time I don’t even know what I am feeling. So when I see people getting all teary-eyed or excited in worship, I often wonder what’s wrong with me. Add to that the many times I screw things up, I have often thought, “Well, you’ve done it this time, Bailey; God surely has had enough of you by now.” Whenever I think this way, I have to go back to the Scriptures.

“[I am] confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ;”                                                                                              —Philippians 1:6 

I take great comfort in these words because they not only give me assurance, but also reassure me about you (and others, too).

There have been many times in my life when I’ve been so discouraged at my failures and lack of progress in grace that I felt, “Why bother?” One day when I had failed miserably, I said to the Lord, “Lord, if I were you, I would be so done with me.” His response to my heart was, “Aren’t you glad I’m not you?” I am. And I am grateful for this promise that our Heavenly Father will not give up on either you or me. 

And because God never gives up, I won’t. Don’t you, either.

Ready to Receive

 September 19, 2024

“Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”  —Ezra 7:10

Today brings the last things I have to say about this verse. Why do we prepare our hearts to seek the Lord? The first reason is because without such preparation we aren’t in a position to actually meet him. God is the Sovereign of the Universe; to imagine we can just saunter into his presence any old time we want, any old way we want, is highly presumptuous, arrogant, even. 

The second reason we prepare our hearts is for life change. We prepare our hearts to seek God in order that he may bring to us what we don’t already possess, things like forgiveness, peace, salvation, and wisdom. Failure to prepare my heart to meet the Lord would be like going to Wegmans without any bags to carry the groceries in. Without preparation, I’m not able to receive what God has to give.

The last reason we prepare our hearts to seek the Lord is that we might teach others. God is never satisfied with merely changing us; he wants us to be part of his mission to transform other people’s lives. Think of how amazing this is! God could transform someone’s life all by himself, but chooses to include us in the process. We get to be co-laborers with the Holy Spirit—can you imagine? God could do a better job without us, but blesses us with the privilege of participating in his eternal purposes.

Looking for a Reason

 September 18, 2024

Have you ever looked for something with no real intent to use it once you found it? I suspect not. There’s no sense in looking for something you don’t really want and don’t intend to use.

Remember this as you read these words:

“Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”  —Ezra 7:10

Living out the Word of God is better than just seeking to know it, Seeking without doing is hypocrisy. We’ve all been guilty of that, often inadvertently, but sometimes blatantly. The problem with hypocrisy is that others see it long before we do, and by the time we recognize it, it’s often done its damage. 

We are in a Catch-22 here. We believe in salvation by grace through faith, so where does the doing fit in, and how do we speak of it without drifting into “works righteousness?” The short answer is simple: Doing the Word of God is the evidence of our truly believing it. We aren’t in the business of academic learning, but life learning. And we don’t live the Christian life in order to be saved, but because we are already saved.

It’s like this: I serve my wife not to earn her love, but because I already have it. We “seek the Law of the Lord” and serve Jesus for the same reason. 

Indirect Revelation

 September 16, 2024

“Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”  —Ezra 7:10

When I read this verse, a single question comes to mind: “How can I prepare MY heart to seek the Law of the LORD?” I’m tempted to give stock answers—Read the Bible, pray, worship together, etc., but it’s possible to do all that and not genuinely be seeking God. It’s a matter of my deeper desire.. The real question is, “What is our God really like? How has he chosen to reveal himself?”

Ezra gives us a clue when he says he prepared his heart to seek (pay close attention here) the LORD not directly, but by seeking his Law. When we try to seek God directly (through visions, experiences, dreams, etc.), we become vulnerable to all sorts of illusions and deceptions. Who is to say God isn’t, as an addict once said, a “purple violet squish?” God can reveal himself directly, but has chosen the more indirect route of the prophets and Jesus Christ, as recorded in the Bible. So we start there. Here is a Scripture to get you started:

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” —Hebrews 1:1-3

Reflect on this for awhile, then ask what God is revealing to you about himself.

Prepared

September 15, 2024

“Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”  —Ezra 7:10

Yesterday I asked how you are preparing your heart to seek God. But what does that mean, and how can we do it? First of all, consider the reason we need to prepare: 

““The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.” —Jeremiah 17:9-10 

We need to prepare our hearts because they are deceitful and wicked. I don’t need to look at anyone else to know this is true. All I need is to look inside me. It’s easy to imagine everything’s OK, but if I’m honest, I know it really isn’t. When I allow God’s Word to expose me to his standards, which are always different than our own (Isaiah 55:8-9), I learn quite quickly that I fall far short of where I want and need to be. Even when I try my best, my heart can easily take me down a road to a dead end. 

If I fail to prepare my heart to seek God, I’ll always end up seeking a god of my own imagination instead of the One True God revealed in the Scriptures. That God can be uncomfortable, which is why I need to prepare to meet him. Even though I know he loves me, I often feel like the unruly student called into the principal’s office. I need to prepare. And when I do, instead of the scolding I anticipate, I find grace, forgiveness, and love.

 

Prepare

September 14, 2024

 I’ve been thinking about various Scriptures that have been particularly influential in my life over the years, and thought I would share them with you. Some are from years ago; others from quite recently. I’ll begin with one of the latter.

“Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”  —Ezra 7:10

Many religions have elaborate rituals that prepare the worshipper to enter the temple of their god. Cleansing ceremonies, special garments, fasting and prayers are but some of the things one must do to be ready for an encounter with their god.

Most of the old mainline Christian traditions have similar rituals, the understanding being that as sinners (even redeemed sinners), we can’t just waltz carelessly into the presence of a holy God. While some of these rituals may be a bit overdone, the Bible has many references to our preparation for worship. One example: Moses was told to take off his sandals at the burning bush because it was holy ground. If the dirt can be holy, how much more the God who made it?

I’m not advocating for special rituals, religious vestments, or such, but this word from Ezra is important. It’s not just our bodies that must be prepared; it’s our hearts. So what are you doing to prepare your heart daily to seek God?

Safe to Suffer

September 13, 2024

In “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Susan asked Mr. Beaver about Aslan. Mr. Beaver assures her that Aslan will deliver Mr. Tumnus and set everything right in Narnia. She is surprised to learn that Aslan isn’t a human, but a lion; in fact, THE Lion. Now she’s nervous about meeting him, and asks if as a lion, he is safe. Mr. Beaver’s response is classic literature and good theology. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

We’ve come to the end of my musings on lions in the Bible. There is more that could be said, but Mr. Beaver’s word is what is really necessary. Aslan isn’t safe. Neither is Jesus. Those who have fiercely followed him often met a grisly end, with persecutions, deprivation, exile, torture, and death. We have become accustomed to our American comfort, and often confuse ease of life with God’s blessings. No—following the Lion of the tribe of Judah isn’t safe, but he is good, and powerful, so that St. Paul can say, 

“I also suffer… nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”                                                             —II Timothy 1:12 

He is able. Never forget that. He is able, and is good, and will not lose or forget what we’ve committed to his care. And that includes our very souls, which is why I pray for people every day with confidence.

 

Humility

September 9, 2024

 We don’t hear much about humility these days. Listen to the presidential candidates and all you hear is arrogance—how a vote for the other side means the end of all we hold dear, but “I can make everything better.” Humility is seen as weakness. Except in the Bible.

 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” —I Peter 5:6-7 

Remember that these verses precede Peter’s mention of Satan as a lion. Humility is something the devil doesn’t know how to handle; after all, his sin was pride. He thought he could displace God himself:

““How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.” —Isaiah 14:12-15 

You will never outwit or defeat the devil with any kind of boasting or arrogance. Some Christians speak of him as if they were going to mop the floor with him. If you hear that kind of talk, walk away. That’s the devil speaking. He is defeated only through the kind of humility that Jesus had when he endured the cross for us. 

Silencing the Roar

 September 8, 2024

I got a bit ahead of myself yesterday with the reference in Revelation 5, so I want to go back to 1 Peter for a bit.

 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” —I Peter 5:6-7 

Peter is writing to Christians who are enduring some pretty serious persecution, so much so that he tells them not to be surprised at the fiery trial they are experiencing. His words here give an interesting twist to the story: they are to “humble themselves under the mighty hand of God.” In other words, the troubles they are having are not outside God’s plan for them. It’s his hand on the steering wheel, not the devil’s. 

All this means that the only way to get through our troubles is to say with Jesus, “Not mine, but Thy will be done.” That’s never easy, but if we fail here, we are vulnerable to the trickery and deceit of the devil who tries to convince us that our troubles are evidence that our Heavenly Father doesn’t really care about us.

But when we humble ourselves before God, he lifts us up, carries us, and cares for us as no other can. And when he does that, the Enemy roars, but can do little more than make noise.

Lion vs Lion

September 7, 2024

Last month I got to thinking about lions. Specifically, about “adversary the devil,” who walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Then, about that greater lion, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5), who alone is able to bring history to completion.

We see many representations of Jesus the Lion in current literature and art. I think it really began to take hold with C.S. Lewis’ Narnia tales about Aslan, the lion who represents Christ. When Lewis describes him as “dangerous, but good,” we get this picture of him, strong and powerful, defeating the White Witch with a swipe of his clawed paw. But that’s not how Aslan defeated her, and it’s not how Christ defeats Satan.

Listen to the rest of his description:

Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain…” —Revelation 5:5-6 

The Lion of the tribe of Judah is the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world for our sins.” Satan is defeated not by a show of muscular or military strength, but by Jesus submitting himself to death that he might overcome death in his resurrection. 

The power of the enemy in our lives today is defeated the same way. We submit ourselves to the will of God, surrender our right to determine our destiny, even swallowing injustice ourselves so the love of Christ might be manifest in and through us. It’s not easy, but Jesus himself said if we would truly live, we must die to ourselves, pick up a cross, and follow him.

Worries

I’ve been thinking about 1 Peter 5:8-9 for quite awhile now. But before Peter counsels us to be on the alert for our enemy who prowls around like a roaring lion, he has a word of encouragement that I suspect many of us need today. 

 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” —I Peter 5:6-7 

We may talk about the first part of that sentence at another time, but it’s the last part that I think is so needful today: “Cast all your care upon him.” We live in an almost unprecedented time of anxiety. It’s dangerous to assume our time in history is worst than any other, but a ubiquitous media which seems to believe its primary purpose is to instill fear, coupled with a fragile faith foundation, causes anxiety even among Christians. 

Peter tells us there is a remedy for our anxiety: “Cast all your care upon Christ.” Not just some of it—ALL of it. We can give our anxiety to him because he cares deeply for us and will instill his peace within us if we simply leave our troubles with him. Our problem is that we give our anxieties to Jesus, but as soon as we finish praying, we pick them up again.

There’s an old gospel song that goes, “Take your heavy burdens to the cross; and leave them there.” It’s good advice that helps us access the Good News.

 

Imputation

 September 6, 2024

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.”

—Proverbs 28:1 

I left you yesterday with a clear statement: “If you want to be bold, be righteous,” which begs the question, “What does it mean to be righteous?” 

The first thing most people think when they hear this word is someone who is stuffy and has a “holier-than-thou” attitude. The Biblical word is not as much a moral or ethical term as it is relational. To be righteous is to be in a right relationship with God. This has moral implications, but isn’t something we can attain by trying to be good.

The only way we can be in a right relationship with God is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We admit that despite our best efforts, we fall short (Romans 3:23), and place our faith in what Jesus did for us when he took our sins upon himself when he died on the cross in our place. 

The word Paul uses to describe this is “imputation” (Romans 4:5-8). It’s a financial term. I have no money in my account, so someone else puts his money in for me. That’s imputation, and it’s what Jesus did. We were not only bankrupt, we were hopelessly in debt, but God placed Christ’s righteousness in our accounts when we repented and placed our faith in him. That’s righteousness. That’s why we can be bold. We aren’t trusting in our own goodness, wondering if it’s enough. We’re trusting in Christ’s righteousness, which we know is enough.

Lion-Hearted

 September 4, 2024

More than a month ago I detoured from talking about lions; specifically, Satan the roaring lion who seeks to devour us, and Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. I detoured to talk about the protection, the defense God gives us to deal with that counterfeit lion.

Today I want to look at a different lion…YOU. 

If you want to know how to live your best life, read the book of Proverbs…again and again. here’s a gem from Proverbs 28:1

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.”

—Proverbs 28:1 

There have been times in my life when I wanted to be able to act boldly, to stand firmly amidst opposition, but caved at the last moment. Looking back, I realize that whenever that happened, I had sinned, causing my confidence to evaporate. I was like Samson who when Delilah shaved his head, didn’t realize that the Spirit of the Lord had left him. He tried to do the mighty things he had done before, but was weak and powerless. 

Sin undermines confidence. We may put on a smiley face and strut around like a peacock, but if we let jealousy, anger, melancholy, fear, unforgiveness, and the like have a place in our hearts, our confidence gets stripped away. If you want to be bold, be righteous!

Enough

 September 3, 2024

\“praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” —Ephesians 6:18 

For me, one of the hardest parts of prayer is found in these last four words—“for all the saints.” I have a prayer list that’s all dog-eared and worn. It has all your names on it, along with little notes to remind me what each of you need. Linda’s list is much more detailed than mine; she’s a much better pray-er than I. 

Here’s my problem: I know a lot of people, but I don’t know specific needs many of them have. I know generalities about my Cuban brothers and sisters, and of my friends Tsoogii and Tsengel in Mongolia, but I don’t know for them the day to day kinds of things we pray for you. This is where Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:2, and Philemon 1:4 are helpful to me.

In these three letters, Paul speaks of “making mention” of his readers in his prayers. I take this to mean he didn’t know all the details that would have informed his prayers so they could be specific. Instead, he simply remembered them by name before the Lord, knowing that God knows the details that are unknown to Paul. And if God knows, that’s enough.

On Track

September 2, 2024

 “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” —Ephesians 6:18 

“Supplication for all the saints.” Paul piles up words here.  In this single verse he uses two different words twice each to encourage us to pray. It’s as if he’s saying, “Don’t miss this! Pray with all prayer and supplication… with supplication!” 

If you’ve gotten serious about prayer, you know how hard it can be to stay on track, to stay focused, or to invest much time in it. Why do you suppose that is? I’ll tell you what I think: The devil is scared of our prayers. He knows how powerful they can be and how powerless he is against genuine prayer. So he’ll let us do any good work we choose so long as it keeps us from the one thing that can actually do him damage. So don’t give up. The harder prayer gets, the closer you are to victory.

Almost There

September 1, 2024

 “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” —Ephesians 6:18 

“Supplication for all the saints.” Paul piles up words here.  In this single verse he uses two different words twice each to encourage us to pray. It’s as if he’s saying, “Don’t miss this! Pray with all prayer and supplication… with supplication!” 

If you’ve gotten serious about prayer, you know how hard it can be to stay on track, to stay focused, or to invest much time in it. Why do you suppose that is? I’ll tell you what I think: The devil is scared of our prayers. He knows how powerful they can be and how powerless he is against genuine prayer. So he’ll let us do any good work we choose so long as it keeps us from the one thing that can actually do him damage. So don’t give up. The harder prayer gets, the closer you are to victory.